Queens native and World’s Fair member Remy Banks just dropped the final installment of his champ hoody music series. His first album in three years, Banks took a break from music in 2021 after releasing the phantom of paradise. “That album was the introduction [of] where I was taking my sound,” he tells Billboard. “I also started working on ventures outside of music and started setting up Banks’ Buds Co. in the legal cannabis world with something dope happening in April with the homie K-Dog. So, smokers stay tuned.”
After his brief hiatus, Remy felt inspired. “I began piling up records and [it] got to a point where it felt like I had two albums. One half of the songs had the champ hoody feel and the other half had kick in the door energy.” Champ hoody music ep. 3 is a smooth nine-track ride perfect for the upcoming spring weather. It features Domo Genesis, Goya Gumbani, Lojii, GVVAAN, 3wayslim, and Fly Anakin with production from argov, soul.exe, Graymatter, ewonee, Laron, and Rockwilder (yes, that Rockwilder). My favorite track, so far, is “place i rep.,” my favorite verse from Remy is probably at the end of “cloth talk.,” and my favorite feature is a toss up between the supremely underrated Domo Genesis and Fly Anakin.
We caught Banks after his released the first single and video for the project, “sunrays,” and had him break down each song for us.
Prod. by argov
Remy Banks: “This was one of the first tracks I recorded back in 2022 or 2023 that made me feel like I was ready to start piecing together an album. It set the tone for where I wanted to take my next body of work, so it made sense to make this the first track.”
Prod. by soul.exe
Remy Banks: “When I heard this beat, I stopped everything I was doing and got straight to writing. [There] was something about it that spoke to me, I had to let the world know I’m not playing around. Then my bro Reni sent me this voice note of some words he wanted me to hear and I knew that was going to be used for the hook…it just fit the mood perfectly. It felt like Mickey talking to Rocky in the gym.”
Prod. by Graymatter
Remy Banks: “This joint just felt like victory. Like a win that was earned by really putting that work in. Once I wrote the verse and hook, I knew I needed my brother Domo Genesis on this. This one is definitely going to be a gem for the Doms & Rem fans out there.”
Prod. by ewonee
Remy Banks: “Shout outs to my dawgs Goya and Lojii! We was at the space pit [studio] one night going through beats for like an hour or two, this ewonee joint raised our antennas and we started writing about some fly shit. I feel like the three of our styles are so unique from another but we’re cut from same cloth. The rest is self explanatory.”
Prod. by Laron
Remy Banks: “Awww man. This one right here is special. My homie Laron sent this beat over and once I heard it, I knew where I was taking it. The sound reminded me of a late ’90s New York love story so I thought about my woman and started painting this motion picture. Once my bro GVVAAN recorded the hook, I knew this was going to be one of them ones.”
Prod. by ewonee
Remy Banks: “This little interlude is like driving Queens bound on the Long Island Expressway from the city at dawn after a night out.”
Prod. by Rockwilder
Remy Banks: “Every time I hear this song, I bug out. I can’t believe I cooked something up with the legendary Rockwilder. Love to my cousin Rasheed for overseeing this meeting of the minds. This one is for Queens!”
Prod. by Graymatter
Remy Banks: “I went out to LA for a week to work on new tunes. I was locked in at home in NY but I needed some new scenery. I was damn near in the studio every day with Graymatter and this joint was one of the few we knocked out. Slim and Anakin went crazy so I had to end it right and bring it home.”
Prod. by Graymatter
Remy Banks: “The project was nearing completion and I needed something to close out with. I hit up Graymatter and he told me, ‘I’m not sending you anything, just come to LA and pull up to the studio.’ I did just that and ended up leaving with a couple joints from Gray. This one had that outro feel, so I wrote my exit. Finito.”